Picasso in Putnam

On April 12, an officer was walking on Putnam Trail, and observed green graffiti on the retaining wall of the bridge where the Little Niagara meets the Chippewa River. They also observed a trash can covered in the same graffiti.

The green paint spelled out an unreadable word. The officer returned to the UW-Eau Claire Police Department and performed a search on graffiti cases in the last six months. They located two ECPD cases of interest.

In the other two cases the graffiti writing appeared to be very similar with a circle above the main text. The main officer discussed the case with a fellow detective about the case. 

The detective had interviewed someone who admitted to the graffitiing before. The suspect explained his tag was “SOBER.”

During review of the two cases, the officer observed the similarities of the text. Looking through photographs and comparing them brought the officer to the conclusion the detective interviewee was the possible culprit.

Follow up of the case will be conducted and no further information is available.

 Kwik Trip Kidnapping Scare 

On April 7 an officer was dispatched to contact a parent who was concerned about their daughter’s social media post. The officer contacted the parent via telephone and the parent explained the situation.

Their daughter had sent a Snapchat message containing a screenshot of a message which stated a warning that abductions were taking place at Kwik Trip gas stations near highways.  

The post goes on to say a woman would claim to request help, and when approached, a suspect would jump out of a car, grab the individual and drive off. The post also said how women were the main targets of these attacks.

The officer was aware of such attacks going on. In other posts it indicated that incidents have been occurring in Andover Min., Anoka Min., Eau Claire and Menomonie.

The parents questioned whether similar attacks had been happening near campus and the officer assured them that nothing had been reported to the police in Eau Claire.

The officer later discussed the safety options on campus like the Safe Walk Safe Ride program and other safety precautions on the UW-Eau Claire campus.

 Flat Tire Near CVTC

At 8:16 p.m. on April 5 an officer received a phone call from a UW-Eau Claire student. The student told the officer they returned to their car and found one of their tires flattened.

The vehicle was parked in the CVTC parking lot within the 600 block of University Drive.

The student called for a tow service. Upon the officer’s arrival the student was standing next to their vehicle. After further discussion of repair options, tow services were told to help change the flat tire.

The officer then notified the communication center and arrangements were made with Rodell Towing and Recovery for help. 

The officer discussed the arrangements, answered any questions they had and cleared the scene.

 Viennese Ball Fake Ticket Fail 

At 11:26 a.m. an officer was advised by the UW-Eau Claire Police Department’s front desk that they had received an email regarding the sale of possible fake tickets at the UW-Eau Claire Viennese Ball on Facebook Marketplace.

Reviewing the emails, the student buying the tickets questioned whether the tickets being sold on Facebook Marketplace were real. 

The officer stated they looked over two screen shot images that had been sent with the email to the UW-Eau Claire Police department.

The officer also looked through the conversation between the student and the potential seller. The student asked for a receipt to confirm whether or not the tickets were real or fake. 

The seller responded by stating the tickets were real and that they did not know why the student was creating an issue.

The officer noticed the student did not appear to have bought the tickets, real or not. The officer also noted that the emails did not indicate where the above incident took place.

The officer then tried to contact the student utilizing the primary squad cell. After multiple attempts, the officer was unsuccessful in contacting the student. 

They then left a voicemail for the student to contact the UW-Eau Claire police department to obtain additional information regarding their case.

The officer also tried to check in house records for the potential ticket seller by utilizing their Mobile Database Computer. They were unsuccessful and could not conduct a records search.

 Dutton can be contacted @[email protected]